Comparison of the Clay Fraction of Ariake Clay Determined by Japanese and ASTM Standards

This study compares the clay fraction percentage determined by Japanese standard JIS A1204/JGS 0131 and ASTM standard D422-63 for the clay samples obtained from the surface of sea bottom sediments in Ariake Bay, Japan. These two standards differ in the amount of dispersant to be added for the dispersion of soil suspensions. The Japanese and ASTM standards suggest adding sodium hexametaphosphate solution as the dispersant so that the final concentration of the dispersant in soil suspension for hydrometer test becomes 2 and 5 g/L, respectively. The test results indicated that the treatment by the Japanese standard gave less dispersion in the soil suspension compared to the ASTM standard, and hence resulted in the underestimation of clay fraction percentage of all the samples.